Monday, July 18, 2011

Breaking Bad Season Four Premiere Discussion

We like the direction this is going and it looks like the show has still got it. Thanks for tuning in! The audience was at a record high for this show. It seems the word is finally getting out.

As an audience, we've known for a while that Gus will one day have to go. He’s never been a huge fan of Walt, and he’s always hated Jesse. There has been tension between Gus and Walt before. Of course Walt is right that one day it will be Jesse/Walt or Gus. We’re glad to see the show officially begin what is sure to be a wild battle against Gus. This episode meandered a bit. It was a long break, and we guess the show runners decided that the audience needed a reminder of what is going on and where the characters stand.

The big surprise of this episode was the death of Victor. We gasped with Gus took a box cutter to Victor's throat, because it just seemed so out-of-the-blue. Why did Gus kill Victor when Victor was clearly brilliant, observant, and loyal? Well, he sort of blew it at the crime scene with Gale. If Victor can lead from Gale’s murder back to Gus in any way, Victor had to go. Not only did Victor get himself seen, but he didn’t take Gale’s folder full of incriminating information.

Another plus for Gus? He has to know that he’s scared Walt and Jesse into at least a month of obedience. We don’t think Gus snapped or is crazy. He’s too calm and intentional for that. We are sure that Gus had plenty of motives for killing Victor. Maybe there is one that the show hasn't yet given us, but those two things are our best guesses. Ern's cousin thinks that it was a combination of Gus acting out of anger and wanting to affirm is authority, because Victor stepped outside of his appointed job description by cooking. What we really can’t figure out is why Hank is buying so many little rocks on the internet. We don’t even have a guess.

Speaking of Hank: We weren’t impressed with the character until the twins tried to kill him and he got shot. He is a freaking bad ass. But sidelined in bed and being mean to Marie and taking all of Walt’s cash without knowing it? We are starting to hate him again. Anyone who makes us feel bad for Marie is unwelcome. We still see her as the woman who steals things.

Back to Gale’s folder… If Jesse goes to prison for this for even a second, we are going to howl with rage. Jesse’s reactions to his deed and the events of this episode made our bad boy-loving hearts ache even more. But it’s a good twist to have the cops crawling all over that place. For some reason, we forgot that the cops were even around anymore with Hank lying in bed and drug lords being the real threats for so long.

Skyler is getting so much more manipulative! She’s turning into a real Mrs. Heisenberg. We feel like the show needs to examine her motives a little more. It's just money? She's kind of a smart woman who loves her family. We feel like that shouldn't be enough to turn her into Walt's crime buddy. We caught glimpses of Saul acting paranoid. When Saul dies, it had better be memorable. For now, we just want to see more of him. He's a good, funny character.

Walt has also been annoying us a little bit with his begging and rambling. This time, it was understandable, because he was trying to talk Gus into thinking that he needs Walt/begging for his life. But Walt does a lot of explaining and pleading. It’s as if he doesn’t even know he’s been WRONG for more than three seasons. Gus is not your wife, Walt. And the same tactic didn't really do wonders with her either (leaving a bag of money in her vicinity did though).

Jesse is continuing on what we think (hope?) is just a very rocky path to redemption. He spent most of the episode in shocked silence. He’s not out of the woods yet, but he’s headed out. Unless the show kills him. He was supposed to die a long time ago, did you know? The writers changed their minds. Nothing is safe to assume with this show.

As for Walt? We don’t see him ever getting his compassion and integrity back. And we like it. Bring on Kingpin Walt and then kill him in the end. That’s what we would do. However, once again, we are not certain of Walt's fate. He still has a sweet loyalty to Jesse. For the most part, he seems to have lost his center. He's a mess and he didn't feel bad about ordering Gale's death at all. Gale was kind of a nice guy too, for someone who cooked drugs.

Quite a bit of blood and gore in this premiere. If we were comparing Breaking Bad with any other show on TV, we would give this premiere an A. But that’s not fair, so we will compare it with itself/its other episodes. What was it missing? A lot of this show's signature black humor and fun. And after such a long wait, they needed to give us more plot rather than spend time reacquainting us with the situations.

Walt's lack of character can be so disappointing. He could have spared Jesse from becoming a murderer and his family future danger by just taking the bullet. He is really a weasel.Jesse, though he comes across as a screw up, has a decent core. His glare at Gus during the murder scene was powerful. He really hates this evil person. I'm surprised that Mike wasn't punished for his part in the screw up. (They never should have allowed Walt that phone call to jesse.)Perhaps that will come later.

About the bloggers

Ern is a lawyer. Ern's all-time favorite shows are LOST and Breaking Bad. Other favorites include Homeland and South Park. She also enjoys opera, water skiing, arguing, and movies. Ern responds to most of the comments, because they go directly to her phone. Ern also starts most of the posts and leaves them half done, as drafts, for Leeard to finish. As far as international visitors go, Ern is excited to see visitors from Germany, the UK, and Israel.

Leeard is a technology consultant and a nice Italian Catholic girl. Leeard's all-time favorite show is Gilmore Girls, but her favorite shows on right now are Game of Thrones, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries. Leeard can do your taxes, loves sports, and has an insane amount of pop culture knowledge. Leeard is excited to see visitors from Russia and Poland because she speaks conversational Russian and Polish (and Spanish).

We started this blog because of our insane addictions to TV. We thought that, while we were "wasting our lives," we would at least get writing and thinking practice out of it.